Helping hands
by Tomomori
Summary: When Hiccup is taken from them, Astrid, the teens and the villagers set out to save him.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Let me say beforehand that this is originally a piece of a longer story, and as such, it might seem unfinished and confusing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD.**

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><p>Astrid ran through the corridor as fast as she could, checking each cell. They were mostly empty, some were even used as a storage. Then, a small sound could be heard from the next one, which sounded like a whimper, only much quieter. Astrid looked into the small cave, and her heart skipped a beat. He was there, amidst the dirt, mud, mildew, curling into himself like a ball, seemingly sleeping. The girl dropped the keys in the haste to get to Hiccup, and cursed herself for it. She coudn't waste even a moment, not now when time was so precious. The bars finally opened and she dropped to her knees by the young dragon trainer, grabbing his shoulder to wake him up.<p>

Hiccup whimpered a little and tried to squirm out from Astrid's grip. When she continued to shake him, he reached up a hand still half asleep and tried to push it away. The Viking girl was shocked at the strengthlessness of the boy, but she couldn't give up.

"C'mon Hiccup. You have to wake up. Wake up."

Hiccup pulled his head out from under his arms and said with a sleepy, confused, raspy voice:

"I don'wanttogo...Le'mmesleep...'mtired..."

"I know Hiccup, I know. But you have to wake up, we're going to bring you home." Astrid fought back the tears that came at hearing the dragon trainer's voice. What did they dare to do to him?!

Hiccup wasn't quite awake yet though, it's been the first time in days they let him rest and even if it was an uneasy, restless sleep, the boy was grateful for a few hours of silence and peace. He barely even recognized someone was talking to him, let alone understand the words. But the shaking continued and he felt the comfortable darkness slip out from under his fingers. He whimpered again as his body started to register reality. His mind was extremely fuzzy. He was beyond exhausted.

"I wanna sleep..." He said, his hand grasping around for the disturbance and latching onto it. Astrid saw she was making progress. She didn't let herself be distracted by the boy's appearance either - she didn't want to focus on the healed and still healing scars on his face and hands.

"I know, I know, but there's someone you have to meet. You can go back to sleep after that."

"No..." His vioce was so weak the girl had to strain her ears to hear it. And was that... fear? She swore bloody revenge on every single member of this cursed tribe.

"C'mon, Hiccup, it's Toothless. Don't you want to meet him?"

His dragon's name seemed to bring Hiccup a little more awake.

"To-Tooth...less...?"

"Yes, Toothless. He's waiting for you right outside. Don't you want to go?"

Hiccup fought a little after hearing Toothless' name, and he managed to wake up, though his head was still swirling and he couldn't process many things. He concentrated hard on the person talking to him. It was a girl... And he knew this girl...

"Ast...rid?" He was scrunching his face in thought.

"Yes, Hiccup, it's me!" The Viking girl could have cried from happiness when Hiccup recognized her. Seeing the boy trying to sit up, she grabbed his shoulders - why were they so small? - and she helped him sit upright against the wall. It was then when the boy finally opened his eyes. Astrid gasped at the sight of the glazed over green irises, which couldn't focus on her fully.

"Reallyyou? Wha'reyou doing here?" The dragon rider slurred a bit.

"I've come for you! Everyone's here, we've come to take you home!" Astrid smiled a bit and stroked a few dirty, muddy locks of hair out of his forehead. Hiccup didn't answer, he stared in front of himself, clearly fighting against the confusion in his head. All the while Astrid noticed something else that made her blood boil with rage. There were two rusty, huge chains attached to the boy's wrists, not longer than his arms. They chained him! They chained him like a wild animal! She grabbed her axe before the boy would open up to the world around him and with a few swift strikes Hiccup wasn't bound to the wall anymore. The loud crashes finally shook him a bit aware though, and he stared at the broken chains for a moment, before looking at the panting girl.

"'m I dreamin'?" Hiccup's voice cracked, and Astrid kneeled down before him, gently touching his face.

"No, I'm really here. And I'm getting you home. Toothless is here as well. He's waiting outside. Come, can you stand?"

Hiccup nodded as he started to push himself upwards along the wall, but didn't get far before sliding back. Astrid quickly caught him and pulled him up, swinging one of his arms over her shoulder so she could keep him upright. She tried not to think about how light he actually was.

"All right." She spoke softly to him. "Now we're going to walk out, okay? Stay with me."

The boy nodded again, some determination shining in his unfocused eyes as he leaned on Astrid while stepping forward once, twice... He ignored the shaking of his legs, just kept on moving steadily, letting the girl take on most of his weight.

They advanced slowly, but surely, and Astrid prayed to all the gods that there wouldn't be any problems. If only they could get to the exit where she came from... There's Toothless and Snotlout and Fishlegs with their drangons and Stormfly. There woud be no army that coud take Hiccup from them again. But in here, she was alone and even if she was a fierce warrior, the boy couldn't even stand by himself, let alone run or fight.

The gods, however, turned their backs on her, as two Viking warriors noticed them and shouted at them to stop. Astrid growled in anger.

"Just give me a minute." She helped Hiccup lean against the wall. The boy whispered back.

"'reyou goin'tobe okay?"

Astrid's heart clenched at the worry in the dragon trainer's voice. He was in such a state and he was still more worried about her than himself. She smiled confidently.

"Are you kidding? They have no chance."

Hiccup's weak chuckle gave her more strength to deal with these two bastards, along with her anger. She detached her axe from her belt and stepped forward. The two men laughed. They found it amusing that a weak little girl would think she can take them on. It was still funny when that girl charged at them with a bloodcurdling battle cry. The fun faded though when they were rapidly losing the fight. Even the two of them couldn't get around her to corner her, as they were risking their limbs with the crazy swinging of the axe. Astrid was no longer furious. She was so much angrier. These people probably had a large hand in what happened to Hiccup. They had to pay. As soon as they realized she had the upper hand, her job was easy. In not more than two minutes, the two men laid in front of her, crying and bleeding. She huffed in anger as she kicked the bundle one last time and she ran back to Hiccup. The boy was still standing, even though his legs seemed to give away any moment, but the little determination he had kept him from tumbling down to the floor. Astrid felt pride, it must have been really hard for him to do that, but he lasted. He was still so strong. The rest of their journey was uneventful, it seemed like the main fight at the front kept this tribe occupied, and the girl congratulated her people for distracting their enemy. And soon, her heart jumped, they were out!

Toothless was right there in a flash, with his head in Hiccup's chest and huffing hot air into the cold body. The boy's eyes lightened a bit more at seeing his best friend and petted the dragon's head.

"Toothless...!"

By then, Snotlout and Fishlegs also arrived.

"Astrid, finally! Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep that dragon out here? One more second and he would've torn off our arms to rush in for Hiccup!" No one listened to what Snotlout said.

"Oh, gods, Hiccup, are you alright?" Fishlegs seemed like he would break down at the sight of their friend. Hiccup, on the other hand flinched and tensed up, trying to edge away from the boys. Astrid noticed, but she held him tight.

"Shut up, you guys! He's still disoriented, what are you doing, screaming and running?!" She hissed, successfully shutting both of them up. "Let's go, the sooner we get away from this cursed island, the better!"

She helped Hiccup onto Toothless' back and she sat up behind him holding him in place as the Night Fury started to run, but just fast enough for Astrid to be able to hold his human on him. The other two dragon trainers and Stormfly took off and looked out for anything that could mean trouble. The ship they were going to use was Berk's fastest and it waited at a beach in the back of the island.

Astrid had to command Toothless to slow down as Hiccup finally lost consciousness, but thankfully they weren't far, just a couple more minutes and they would be sailing to safety. They didn't encounter anyone that tried to stop them from leaving and they got on the boat without trouble. As soon as they were on board, they left the island behind. The girl took Hiccup under deck and laid him in a buch of fur blankets, then tugging him in hoping they would warm the cold body. Toothless curled himself around the makeshift bed and laid a wing on top of the bundle his human was in, providing some extra warmth. His greenish-yellow eyes spoke of sadness, worry, and relief. After months, he finally saw his rider, he could be near him, but he hated to see Hiccup so hurt. Astrid stroked the dragon's head comfortingly.

"He's going to be okay. He's the strongest person I've ever met."

Toothless purred softly in reply and then laid his head by Hiccup's side.

The Viking girl left them to be alone, Hiccup would be safe with Toothless and she still had work to do. She talked to the Vikings on board, filling them in a little then waited for Snotlout to arrive, as he flew back to the main battle when the ship sailed out of the beach. He had to sign the success of their special mission, to get Hiccup back. When he got back, he reported that the people of Berk already are on their ships and sailing home as well. Astrid calmed down a bit. Luckily, everything went as planned. They'd have to be on their guards from now on, as these people probably are going to come back for the boy. Only, they will be waiting this time and protect him. Fishlegs fell behind saying he saw something. A few minutes later he came back with a scared expression.

"Dragons! They have dragons!"

"What?" Astrid knew this was coming. Why else would they need Hiccup? But still, she wished this wasn't the case.

"They are riding dragons, not all that well, but they are doing it!"

"Are they following us? Did they see you?" Astrid jumped onto Stormfly, who descended just enough so her rider could get on her back.

"No, I don't think they noticed me, and they are probaly just looking for us, they were scanning the area."

"Good. You, Fishlegs, come with me, we're going to lead them away. Snotlout, you stay here in case anyone finds the ship. Use any means necessary to keep them from reaching Hiccup!"

The Jorgenson boy nodded and the two of them took off toward the riders.

It was already dawn when they arrived back. Astrid talked with the captain for a minute then went down under deck to check on Hiccup. The boy was awake and he was petting Toothless. At the sound of the girl's footsteps he tensed up a little and turned to her. He stared at her for a moment, while Astrid decided it would be best to just stand and wait it out, remembering last night's episode when the boys came out of their hiding places. Then, Hiccup relaxed and a soft smile lit up his bruised face.

"Astrid."

The girl smiled as well and walked over to the boy, sitting down beside him. She took his hand into hers and looked at him.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine" At his friend's disbelieving, scolding look he winced, but kept to his statement. "Really, Astrid, I'm all right. Just a little tired."

The girl's look softened but she knew he wasn't telling the truth. He still seemed much better compared to the night. He could focus more, his eyes were clear as well.

"Let's say we switch places. I'm the one looking like you, and you're me. Would you beieve me if I said I'm all right?"

Hiccup looked into her eyes sheepishly.

"...No."

"So?"

"It's nothing some sleep won't solve" He smiled. Astrid knew he was just saying that to reassure her, but she didn't pry. He really seemed extremely tired and sleepy, so she kissed him lightly on the cheek and went to the door when Hiccup's soft voice called her name.

"Astrid?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For coming" He turned to look her in the eye. "For saving me."

"Anytime, Hiccup. Anytime."

She then left the boy so he could get some sleep. It would be at least two days before they got home. No matter how badly she wanted to fly to Berk, Hiccup just didn't have the strength. She guessed he only awoken a few minutes before she arrived and he already could hardly stay awake when she left. Astrid hated those people who took Hiccup away from them even more. Especially for that the confidence was gone from his eyes completely, only leaving behind uneasyness, fear and timidness.

She told the other teens to be calm around Hiccup and don't be so loud. Fishlegs nodded eagerly before heading down to check on his friend as well, but Snotlout didn't promise he would do that. In the afternoon the twins caught up to them and asked about Hiccup. Astrid reassured them and sent them forward to tell Berk about their arrival. She knew they weren't the type to act calm and quiet.

Hiccup had awoken several times during their journey back, most of the time from nightmares, but he never stayed up for more than a few minutes. Fishlegs decided to treat him and when he emerged from under the deck having finished tending to his wounds he was on the werge of tears. From what he told, Hiccup's whole body was a broken mess. Cuts, bruises and burns littered his skin, telling the tales of long and painful tortures, and he had a few broken ribs and the boy also mentioned that his left arm was most likely broken as well, and it only just healed.

"It was a miracle it healed well because the treatment was really poor and careless."

Snotlout disappeared undeneath without a word after hearing it all, and they let him spend time with his cousin in peace.

By evening Hiccup could stay awake for a bit longer, and Astrid brought him some food. She felt horrible when Hiccup eyed the food with great hunger in his eyes. He probably didn't get much to eat in the last four months, and that's why he looked like a skeleton rather than a teenage boy. The dragon trainer ate slowly though, and Astrid knew it was because she was right there. He didn't want her to worry.

The next day came with a surprise. Hiccup was up and about, and was getting Toothless ready to fly by the time Astrid woke up.

"Hiccup?"

"Hi, Astrid... Uh, hi, Astrid..." The boy's stuttering brought a smile to the girl's lips. He always did this when he was caught doing something he didn't want others to know about.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, I was just... I wanted to go flying? I mean, I'm sure Toothless is going to go crazy if he stays on the ground any longer. And I really missed our morning flights as well."

"Are you sure you're up to that? You still look like Hel" Astrid looked Hiccup over. He still seemed a bit weak and he had bags under his eyes, like he didn't actually sleep all day before. Hiccup was standing strong though, his stubbornness kicking in.

"I'm fine, Astrid, I really am!"

"... Hiccup, you know no one expects you to be "fine" after what happened, right?"

"..."

"Right now everyone is relieved that you're alive! You don't have to act like nothing happened at all! You don't have to prove anything!"

Hiccup frowned sadly.

"Maybe it would have been better if I died..."

"What are you saying?!" Astrid was terrified even at the thought. The boy seemed to have regretted it, because he started to explain himself.

"Astrid, it's not what I meant... I just... I messed up real big this time... I couldn't keep it up... I told them... how to train dragons. I have to do something about it, I..." His rant was cut short as the girl suddenly wrapped him in a tight hug. His ribs started to ache a bit but he didn't have the time to pay attention.

"A-astrid?"

"You...! You're the biggest idiot I've ever seen! It woud have been better if you died?! You messed up?! Hiccup if you really think after everything you've gone through you still need to explain yoursef, and you still need to be the one who can be blamed then I'm going to tie you to the mast and sail you off the end of the world!" Astrid held him a bit away from herself and she grabbed the sleeve of his tunic, pulling it up. "If you dare say that all these don't show that you made them run for their money before giving in, I'm going to hit you so hard you will feel it even a hundred years from now on!"

The boy stared down at the scars littering his arm where bandages didn't hide them.

"But Astrid... Even if that's the case, I still gave them power they will most likely use to hurt and conquer others, Berk involved!"

"Shut up! I don't care! No one cares! You know what?! I'm happy you showed them! I'm happy because if you didn't, maybe you would be... would be..." Astrid's voice died down. She lifted her face and Hiccup's breath got caught in his throat. Astrid was crying. He realized it just then, that the girl had probably was terrified for him, fearing that maybe they won't find him alive. The last few months must have been painful and desperate for her as well. He dropped his head.

"I'm sorry, Astrid. I'm sorry. You're right. Please forgive me."

The Viking warrior just shook her head and punched him lightly on his shoulder.

"That's for saying those things" She then took Hiccup's chin into her hands and kissed him affectionately. "And that's for realizing it was stupid."

Hiccup hugged her and whispered into her ears:

"Thank you."

Toothless watched the whole scene worried but it seemed like the two humans came to an understanding and he felt a huge amount of guilt leaving his rider. He grumbled at them softly before dramatically trotting back down under deck whining about the canceled flight.

Not that he would have budged even if Hiccup wanted him to.

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><p><strong>Umm, so as I said, this is a part of a bigger story, but my friend said it woud make a nice oneshot as well. However, I decided to put this up for vote: I would like to hear you guys' opinion on the matter. Would you like to know how did Hiccup get into this mess and whatever happened after they got back to Berk, or should I leave it as it is?<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, people, I decided to return from the dead for your sake! To be honest I didn't expect you will like my story this much, you all made me very happy! And so, I'm going to post the whole story, starting with the... well, start. For a few chapters I will describe how everything started and briefly, whatever happened until the original chapter. After that, we will get to see what happened after. Okay, I'm ranting. I'll stop now. Thank you again for reading my story, and thanks for everyone who favorited, followed and rewiewed, I'll try my best from now on as well for you all!

Disclaimer: Nope. I've nothing.

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><p>Four months earlier<p>

Bright stars lit up the pitch black skies above the islands of the Barbaric Archipelago. A cold, but soft wind was brushing fog-like clouds around and made the tree leaves dance and whisper through the darkness of the night. The ocean whirled and moved constantly, buzzing comfortingly as a huge, black shadow flew over it, almost skidding on the surface. As the wind blew a patch of cloud avay from the moon it lit up the dark form, revealing a dragon black as the sky itself, only a bright red tailfin catching the eye. On the reptile, sat a thin boy in light leather flying gear, his left leg reflecting light in a metallic shine. His brown hair was ruffled as they flashed across the air, and he grinned happily, the moonlight giving his green eyes a silvery shade. Finally, they lifted up into higher levels, a soft laugh escaping from the boy and a grunt of contentment from the dragon underneath him.

Hiccup always enjoyed his midnight flights with Toothless, tearing the air apart in the calm silence that enveloped them like a blanket. The boy loved how the wind whistled in his ears, not disturbed by the energetic sounds from the village or his friends' bickering and talking. It didn't mean he wasn't happy when one or two of them joined him occasionally, but nothing was like being alone with your best friend in the soothing blackness. He patted Toothless' head and turned him around to head back home. While they did a few stunts before nearing Berk he thought about the night before.

He wasn't really surprised when he noticed a huge dragon hovering above the woods, obviously waiting for them. He had flights with all of the other dargon trainers before, one by one as well as several of them at once. He smiled lightly as he quickly closed up the space between them. Snotlout joined him just as much as the others, and Hiccup didn't mind at all. Actually, they had really good conversations whenever they were alone. When his cousin didn't have anyone to show off to, he became calm and pretty friendly with Hiccup. Of course, he always threatened to kill him if he spills this to the others but both knew this will keep being their secret and they didn't want it any other way.

This time Snotlout told Hiccup how he finds it harder to make his father proud by the day. Spitelout was only happy if his son had did better every time than before. The boys actually had these conversations a few times before, and like every time, Hiccup listened through the whole stroy, before comforting his cousin and promising he would help him find some solution. However, no matter how much he wanted to help, he started to run out of ideas. The idea of getting his father talk to his brother seemed better each time but he knew that would mean destroying Snotlout's pride and the strengthening friendship between them, so he always chased the thought away.

He was raking his brain for every available idea right at this moment too. Spitelout wasn't nearly as understanding as his father and Hiccup had to agree with Snotlout that his expectations were getting insane.

He tuned back into reality as the silhouette of Berk came into vision. He steered Toothless a bit to the side and the dragon understood right away where his rider would like to go. When they reached the island he flapped his wing to lift them up above the woods until he noticed a small clearing with a lake on it. They slowly descended into the cove and Hiccup jumped off his dragon. He then started to take the saddle and the flying equipment off, Toothless fidgeting excitedly.

"Calm down bud, I'm working as fast as I can!" Hiccup laughed. He knew Toothless loved bathing in the lake during clear nights like this. He really needed it too, he thought to himself as wherever his hand rubbed against the black scales it got dirty and blackish as well. When the last piece was taken off the dragon bounced happily into the water and Hiccup checked the saddle and the other flying assets. Sighing loudly he dragged them over to the lake and started to rub the dirt out of them. He glanced up at his best friend who has stopped splashing around and watched him curiously and... amusedly?

"Really nice, you know this wouldn't be the case if you didn't like to bath in dirt as much as you like in water." He mumbled a little annoyed but he smiled nonetheless. He didn't really want Toothless to change in any way, even if it meant he had to scrub the equipment every single day. About an hour later, when the dragon finally got out of the water, he flung the now clean pieces over tree branches so they woud dry, then he turned to join Toothless to rest until they can go home.

If only he didn't hear the furious roar. He froze in place for a moment, then started to run in the direction of the sound. Somehing was wrong. Thumps and thuds and quiet grunts told him his best friend was fighting. He had to be there by his side! But then, his arm was caught by a huge hand and the palm closed around it with a crushing force. He didn't even have time to yell from the surprise and the pain as he was yanked back harshly, stars dancing before his eyes as his arm felt like it would get torn off for a moment. He shook his head and was turned arount to stare into an incredibly ugly face. The fact it was ugly didn't bother him though - Berk had some folk with this kind of face - but what did was he didn't recognize it. The person holding him captive was a stranger, and obviously not the friendly type. He tried to pull his arm out of his hand but the already painful pressure increased and he had to bite down on his lips to keep a yelp from escaping. The man just kept staring at him, increasing the strength of his hold when he felt Hiccup tried to squirm out of it, but he didn't say a word. He wasn't bothered by the boy's fighting either - Hiccup wasn't even sure he felt his kicks and hits. The stranger didn't even show any desire to fight, he only concentrated on keeping him in place. Giving up the useless fight, the boy called back worriedly over his shoulder.

"Toothless? Are you okay, bud?"

His blood froze when he didn't get any answer other than a taunting laugh.

"Look boys, isn' he cute? He's calling for 'is dragon! Askin' if it's alright! Boy, did ya even notice jus' how big of a trouble ya gotten into?" A man walked out from behind the rocks which hid the fighting Toothless from Hiccup's worried eyes. He glared at the other unknown man.

"Who are you guys?!"

"I don' think ya are in a position to ask questions, boy." The man's voice reminded the dragon trainer to Alvin, but this one had a bit more danger to it. He shook his head free from the troubling thoughts and answered coolly.

"Seeing as you attacked us out of nowhere, you should at least tell me who are you and why are you doing this. You know, not like I can escape with this guy latched onto my arm." Hiccup gestured to the giant holding him in place. The man grinned.

"Ya are smart, aren't ya? It's best if ya don' know. All ya need to know, ya're comin' with us."

Hiccup glared at him angrily, dissappointed his plan didn't work. He at least had a good guess why were they here.

"Let me guess. You're here because of the dragons, aren't you? You want to know what we know."

"Look, I told ya, ya're smart! Yes, we're indeed here for you, Dragon Conqueror!"

"Wow, really?" Hiccup tried his best to stay calm. He still didn't give up on his plan to at least leave some clues behind if he was taken away. "Why are you so sure you've got the right person?"

"Rumors say the Dragon Conqueror is a scrawny boy, a fishbone, riding a deadly Night Fury. I believe the description fits, right, boys?" he grinned and motioned to his men who dragged a bound Toothless on the ground behind themselves. The dragon trashed around but he couldn't get out of the ropes wrapped around his body. As soon as he saw Hiccup, his eyes checked him over and he growled at the man who clearly was causing pain to his human. The man who seemed to be the leader laid his hand on Toothless' shoulder, which the dragon tried to shake off, hating its touch. "I would assume this is a Night Fury."

"Let. Him. Go." Hiccup felt something strange as he watched how the man could kill his friend in about two seconds. He was scared, more than anytime before, but he also felt a huge amount of rage boiling in him. He briefly wondered whether that should be scaring him or not.

"Now, now, boy. We're here to talk abou' business, ya see?"

"Some business." Hiccup was growling at the man. He didn't like him one bit. There was something in him that made his hair stand on end and at the same time made him want to strangle him. He hated him out of instinct.

"Ya see, we can do this the easy way..." The man casually dropped his hand onto the hilt of his sword. "Or we can do this the hard way." With that he unsheathed it and held the blade unnervingly close to Toothless' neck. Hiccup gasped, but forced himself to regain his composure.

"If you kill him, you can forget I will ever go with you."

"Oh, that's fine by me, but ya know, we have other insurances." He reached his other hand out and one of his men placed something in it. Then he jerked his head to the man holding Hiccup, and he dragged the boy over, so he could see the object. At the sight the dragon trainer's air was caught in his throat. It was a lock of blonde hair, and Hiccup only knew one person who had such a light, goldish shine to her hair. He tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat at the thought.

"How?"

"Let that be our secret, boy. Now, are ya comin' with us peacefully or...?" For better effects he held the sword directly to the Night Fury's neck. Hiccup stared into his dragon's eyes, which were pleading for him to not give himself up. He silently apologised to him, and he glared back at the hateful man.

"Alright. I'll go with you."

The next moment, he felt something hit his head from behind and his world blackened.

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><p>In the morning, a bunch of teens were sitting around in the academy, apparently waiting for Hiccup, but he didn't show up for two hours. Snotlout and the twins got bored and annoyed and left, leaving Astrid and Fishlegs worrying. The two of them decided that the boy would keep waiting at the academy in case he shows up and Astrid will go look for him. She jumped onto Stormfly and took off towards Hiccup's house. On her way she asked several villagers whether they saw the boy but the answer was always the same: no. When she arrived to the chief's house, Stoick was walking out the door, then looked up at Astrid.<p>

"Chief! Is Hiccup home?" Astrid landed her dragon by the huge man.

"No, I thought he already met up with you."

"He didn't. Could he have gone flying in the morning?" Her worry growed by each second. She had a very bad feeling.

"No, I beieve he was flying during the night. Do you think something happened to him?" Stoick started to get worried as well. Where could his son be?

"I don't know sir. I'l keep looking. Maybe he went to the cove and dozed off." She tried to reassure him, but she couldn't stop thinking Hiccup was in serious trouble. She climbed back onto her dragon's back and she went for the cove this time. It was always the second place she would check, as Hiccup liked to go there when something troubled him or he wanted to be alone for a while. As she was nearing the place, a familiar voice tore the air apart. Something was definitely wrong, why else would Toothless roar in such a way? She urged Stormfly to go faster, and the raging, panicked and frustrated roars of the Night Fury became clearer every time, until they were right above the cove. They descended, only to have a fireball launched at them and Stormfly answered with her own fire out of reflex. The next moment, Astrid and her dragon were knocked over by a dangerously growling Toothless. The girl felt something she didn't feel ever since she first met the dragon. Fear. Luckily, the Night Fury seemed to recognize them as his pupils thickened a little, and he jumped off of them, running back and forth, then attempted to climb out again, uselessly.

It almost took Toothless the whole night to get out of the ropes binding him, and numb as he was, he couldn't summon enough strength to propel himself out of his prison. He was angry and frustrated, they took his rider from right under his nose! He watched them drag the unconscious body of his beloved human away and he couldn't do anything!

Astrid stood up, and quickly processed the situation. Something happened to Hiccup, and Toothess got trapped here. Maybe they fell? But the dragon didn't have a saddle! She started walking around, knowing the black dragon wouldn't attack her again, and she noticed the flying equipment flung onto the branches. This was most likely Hiccup's doing, so he was here. She started to feel worse. He WAS here. The way Toothless is acting, he isn't anymore. And Hiccup would never leave his dragon in the cove willingly. She then noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was a bunch of torn and burnt rope, long and strong enough to keep a dragon at bay. By the ropes, laid a rock, and its surface was covered something black. She took a step back as realization hit her: someone was here, tied Toothless up, and took Hiccup. Her worries multiplied.

"Toothless!"

She successfully caught the dragon's attention and he landed in front of her but he was baring his teeth at the girl. Astrid then looked away and reached her hand out, just like Hiccup told her to. The boy showed Stoick, Gobber and the teens how they can calm Toothless down, whenever he's agitated. She was hoping this would actually work because she liked her hand. Toothless stared at the hand as if contemplating something then leaned into the touch. Astrid let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and she started to rub the dragon's head soothingly.

"Toothless, who did it? Who took Hiccup? Was it Alvin?"

The dragon snorted, so she tried again:

"Dagur?"

Another snort, then a frustrated twich of the head. She clinged onto her last hope:

"Do you know who took him?"

Toothless whined painfully, and Astrid almost cried. They didn't know the tribe that took their heir. He could be anywhere. She had to warn Stoick. She quickly ran over to the branches holding the saddle and collected up Hiccup's flying gear, then climbed onto Stormfly.

"We're going to get you out of here Toothless, get ready!" She signaled to her dragon and she grabbed and lifted the Night Fury out of the cove. As soon as they were over the edge, Toothless got back onto ground and took off running towards the village, with Astrid following closely. The villagers quickly realized that getting in the way of an agitated Night Fury is not really a life insurance, so they gave way as the dragon rushed through between the houses. He almost knocked over Stoick, who came to check out what the commotion was about, and the chief felt his heart sink into his stomach when he didn't see his son on the clearly frustrated black dragon. A pale Astrid following on her dragon with his son's flying gear didn't cheer him up either. He took off running after them, and he quickly realized they were headed to the harbor. Astrid felt hopeless at this as well. Who knows where did they take him? When they got to the ocean, Toothless jumped into the water and swam a little just to turn back and roar at the distance from the sand.

Astrid landed just in time for Stoick to drag her off her dragon and ask her:

"What happened to Hiccup?"

"They took him... I don't know who... Toothless didn't know them." She felt just as disheartened at her own words as the chief did.

Stoick let her go and stared at the ocean for a few moments before taking a deep breath and turning around.

"Astrid, go get the other trainers, split up and see if you can find Hiccup! Come back before sunset, and report! Gobber, you get the boats ready! Spitelout, come with me! We're going after my son."

The whole village moved at the chief's orders, everyone tending to their own task to help their little heir. The only one that didn't move from his spot was a certain pitch black dragon who was sitting on the sand and kept howling at the water, maybe hoping his calls will be answered.

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><p>Well, that's about it for the <em>real<em> first chapter, I hope you liked it! I'll try to update soon, but life's aways getting in my way, and, did you see the thing? It's HUGE, man! I can hardly get around it. (But you know what? All your love made it smaller. Good job.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, everyone! I'm soooo terribly sorry for taking so long! To tell the truth, me being busy only deserves part of the blame, having a writer's block and giving in to distractions as well, so… And still, this chapter is pretty short too, so no compensation there… But I'll try to upload the next chapter soon enough!**

**Anyway, this chapter and the next one are still taking part before the first one, and after that, we'll get back to normal time. I hope you'll enjoy this!**

**Disclaimer: Umm, do I have to put this in every chapter? Not like it's gonna change, so…**

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><p>Astrid flew as fast as Stormfly could manage, looking desperately for a ship. She looked in every corner around every small island, making sure nothing could have hide from her. But she didn't even find a small fishing boat, let alone a ship that most likely had Hiccup on its board. She gazed down angrily at the huge, blue surface under her, cursing the ocean for being so big. If only it was smaller, they would find their heir easier. If only they didn't have a headstart. If only the water beneath didn't mock her for being so small and helpless. She turned her dragon around. Maybe the others found something.<p>

Her hope was cut short when as last of the group, she arrived in front of the Great Hall. Fishlegs was waiting for her at the huge doors, failure clear on his face. No one found anything. Nothing at all. She felt her heart sink deeper.

Stormfly landed and Astrid slid off her back. Fishlegs ran up to her, eyes filled with hope. Hope for good news. However, when he saw the girl's face, his shoulders slumped visibly.

"You didn't find him either?"

"No. Did anyone find something? Anything?"

"No, no one found anything! It's as if they hadn't even come here. The only thing that shows anyone was here is that Hiccup's gone! How's that even possible?! If it was a ship we should have found it flying on our dragons!" Fishlegs was ranting, worry for his friend so evident on his face. Astrid felt the same. She tried to think of an answer, not only to calm Fishlegs but to reassure herself as well. She reached up to take her hair between her fingers, she often fidgeted with it when deep in thought. However, where there previously was a thin lock of blonde hair, now was nothing at all. She felt around her ear for a moment when she found where her hair was cut off. She frowned. When did that happen? She didn't remember any kind of thing happen lately that would have cut her hair off. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind for now, she had to focus on Hiccup.

"Are the others in th Great Hall?" Astrid wanted to know what Stoick was planning now.

"Yes, you're the last one they are waiting for."

"Let's go inside then. Don't worry, Fishlegs. We're gonna find him. I swear." She sighed and pushed the great doors open.

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><p>The first thing Hiccup registered is that the earth was moving. A sudden rush of panic made him snap his eyes open and shot up from where he was lying. As he stared at the wooden insides of a ship, he tried to untangle the confused mass of thoughts and memories in his head. First of all, where was he? Why was he there?<p>

It took him a few seconds until he finally remembered the night before, the flight with Toothless that ended in him getting taken by... by who? He frantically looked around him to see if his dragon is okay but he didn't see the Night Fury anywhere. His absence sent a river of ice cold sweat trickling down on Hiccup's spine. No way. There's no way they killed Toothless. The dragon is alive. He had to be.

He was snapped out of his panicky state by a man walking into the room and up to him. He was a huge person, almost as bis as Stoick, but he was different in everything else. He had such blonde hair it seemed white, tied into untidy braids, with a pretty small beard that was rather gray instead of white. He had eyes that reminded Hiccup of a freezing cold winter day's light blue sky, it even had that ruthless, merciless feeling to it. Pretty surprisingly, this man had all his teeth, all of them perfectly white even. This couldn't have been said about most Vikings on the Archipelago, with their lack of hygiene and whatnot. The man was wearing a black armor which made his white hair shine even more brightly. On his side, a long sword was strapped to his wide belt and Hiccup, as a blacksmith's apprentice could see that the weapon was a masterpiece. But the man himself still awakened the fear mixed with anger in him. He pondered for a second on which was stronger in him this time, and he concluded rather darkly that it was rage.

The man stopped in front of him. For half a minute, they just stared into each other's eyes, trying the other's willpower. Hiccup didn't even think about backing down, he was the son of a chief, after all. Then the man grinned and reached down, grabbing his shoulders roughly and pulling him up. With his hands tied behind him, Hiccup staggered to find his balance, glaring daggers at the man.

"Where's Toothless?! What did you do to him?!"

"The dragon? We killed it, of course." The man's tone was evilly cold as his grin grew wider. "We couldn't risk it coming after us, ya see..."

Hiccup lost the strength in his body. He collapsed back onto the floor, unable to believe what he just heard. He chanted in his head 'not true not true not true he's alive', but he knew it made sense. His fear of it when he woke up just grew twenty times as much in strength, and it nearly crushed the boy's hope. However, a weak voice spoke up in the back of his mind. Hiccup stared into the man's eyes again.

"I don't believe you!"

"Ya don't have to believe. It won't change anything though."

"I told you I won't help if you harm him!"

"Ya don't really have a choice, boy. Ya'll give your knowledge to us or ya'll die. It's so simple."

"So you've done all this and you would be fine with me dead?" Hiccup felt himself shrink a little at that, but his voice never faltered.

"Oh, don't worry, this ain' over yet. You will see it's better to let us in on your secret pretty soon." The man's smile didn't quite leave any doubt what were they planning with him, if he refused to help them. But Hiccup, despite he was almost panicking, didn't let his fear show, he just kept on staring into the cold blue eyes, he was determined to protect his village, his friends.

His stone-hard resolve, that has been reflected in his eyes, amused the man.

"Ye've got some guts, boy, I'll give you that. We'll see how long ya can hold on, though." And with that, the huge man left him all alone to his thoughts.

The boy relaxed a bit and let out a shuddering breath as soon as he was alone. He spent the next few minutes trying to calm himself. When his head felt clearer, he finally started to examine where was he kept. It was a closed off space under a ship's deck, probably mostly used as storage room. Right now there wasn't anything in there besides him. He then struggled to get his tied hands in front of himself. He saddened a little when he saw that he wouldn't be able to get the ropes that cut painfully into his wrists off, but he could balance better at least. He walked all around his cell, keeping an eye out for any detail that he could use to escape but he came up with nothing. Finally he sunk back to the floor hoping that he will have better luck later. As he stared at the wooden boards, he thought about his father. He wondered whether he noticed already that he's gone. Maybe he's already looking for him. He also thought about his dragon. He refused to think Toothless died, no matter what anyone said. He had to be alive. He was alive and probably really worried about him. That was the only thought that offered him some comfort in his wrecked situation.

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><p>The mood wasn't exactly the best in the Great Hall. All of the Hooligans talked at once, creating a loud, buzzing sound. What Astrid could see was the confusion on every face. Some of them still didn't know what exactly happened and some passed rumors around. She could have sworn she heard someone say Hiccup was eaten by a sea dragon. She didn't answer the people asking her what happened, just stared at the back of Fishlegs, who was going front and pushed a way for them to the chief. Stoick raised his gaze hopefully to the pair but his eyes darkened a little when he took in Astrid's expression. He exchanged a few words with her before standing up straight. Gobber bellowed 'Quiet!' and the buzzing died down immediately. Stoick took a deep breath before talking.<p>

"As most of you already know by now, my son, Hiccup, has been kidnapped by an unkown party. According to the rules between the Barbarian tribes, this is a declaration of war. I am determined to find who has my son, and to take him back. And while doing so, I am determined to teach them that waging war on the Hairy Hooligans is not only a foolish act, but a regrettable one as well. Who's with me?!"

The walls seemed to shake in the next moment as all the Vikings present inside roared 'Let's go!' at once, in a tone that would have caused Thor himself to drop his hammer in surrender. Stoick stood before them proudly, and new hope had been born in his heart.

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><p><strong>And that's it! What do you guys think?<strong>


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